Getting into the car, Abraham had no choice but to follow his young master's orders. Diving into the driver's seat, Abraham sped off from the cathedral grounds under the orders of Grace.
The ride back to the housing was silent; it was only the continuous sniffling done by Grace in order to avoid letting the blood that was slithering from his from falling out and staining his clothes or the car interior.
Now, after everything had settled down and the thoughts that had once raced throughout his headspace had diminished--everything was hurting, pounding like thunder even.
But once he looked at his wrists and saw the two black cross marks embedded on his pale skin, he knew what he wanted to do. And it was - despite the pain that hounded his senses - to practice the abilities granted to him by the Creator itself.
Once arriving back to the temporary housing, Grace made no effort to explain the situation that had occurred between his parents and himself and instead rushed into the housing and closed the door to his room in order to get down to his business.
Sitting on the floor instead of the bed in order to not dirty it with the clothes he wore, Grace looked at the marks on his wrists once again. As someone who read the novel, the first time activating their ability is not deliberate, but an instinct. It was something that beckoned the character to call upon, rather than learn through blood and sweat.
That is why, to Grace, it was natural for him to immediately imbue the essence of the world - mana - into a specific portion of his body. The mark shone for a moment, before a singular sword appeared before him, exuding a transcendental light.
"Huahhh..." Grace's eyes were wide in awe. This was something that he could only imagine in his dreams. And it was not something that he ever believed to be a reality.
Until now.
The sword lit the room with vibrancy, and his heart began to race in adrenaline. He put some more thought into it before 'instinctually' summoning another blade of light. He summoned another and tried to go for a fourth blade of light before it ultimately failed and the rest of the blades dispersed into the space before him.
Grace grimaced, wiping the blood from the subtle backlash that suddenly emerged once the blades were forcibly dispersed.
"Tsk. I guess that's the exchange for arrogance."
Retrospectively, it was foolish of him to readily activate his abilities when his condition was all over the place.
But I was excited!
That was all he needed to tell himself in order to cope with the fact that the action he took just now was on a more foolish one than he would like to admit. But he then sighed as he looked at his marks once again.
This ability is an ability that is 'creating' or 'summoning.' Which means that this is an ability that will be heavily reliant on me being able to efficiently utilize my mana. But my reserves are just a bit above average, so that would mean I would need to be able to hone this ability to the point where I can summon a blade with just a minuscule drop of mana. Grace crashed down on the floor.
Despite the beauty of his ability, it was without a doubt one of the harder abilities to completely master as to be able to reach the higher levels of the world, this ability specifically demanded a perfect level of mana control.
But...
"That is fine."
He grinned.
"The Grace that exists now is not the same as before. This body is now overflowing with the talent activated by a transmigrator. Even though I am most definitely behind in magic, thus being behind on the sections of mana that were tedious to get by before--things can change!"
However, in order to catch up with the main cast, he would need to pour every single bit of time towards training. Being Rank 10 out of 400 Freshmen was not enough to keep up with the pace of the story.
Let us see... by the time we get to the Academy's Subjugation Arc--I need to be comparable to Alice? No, more than that. It's either I am equal to Ivan or I crumble completely. He wore a bitter smile on his face.
But the changes in the story as we go on may just positively or negatively impact the growth of the cast. Keeping the story fully intact is impossible, however I should still do my best to foster positive growth in everyone. And that especially goes for future dangers that may emerge due to my meddling.
A future may come that is completely different than one he would know. And it may require strength that surpasses the strength demonstrated by the original story. And that is something that he feared most.
"Is something like that even possible?" He questioned to himself. He then shook his head, tearing the doubt that was riddling his body.
Questioning possibility--in a world that will soon be plunged into deep change, anything can happen. Whether it is a canon event or a change in events that stems from the meddling of my presence. I must be ready. For certain, he must see it through.
No matter the consequences, pressing forward even if it seems everything is lost in vain.
Rubbing his eyelids, Grace pondered.
He should be not too far away from the Central City. He thought to himself.
~~~
Not too far away from the Central City of the continent of Ergo, the protagonist of the novel was in a rural village. More specifically, he was seated by a nearby pond within the dead of night.
Ivan Sawyer, a boy who stood tall and proud despite his mediocrity in combative talent. His medium-length dark-brown hair almost hid his eyes before he wiped the bangs away. He was handsome, but at the current moment, he was anything but collected.
Sweat clung to his skin and his heart fought the urge to rupture from his chest.
Ivan looked behind him.
Separated by a small forest, Ivan could see a faint light emerge not too far away from the pond.
He clicked his tongue quietly.
Still after me?! He thought as the faint light began to strengthen. And not too long after, a few audible words could be heard.
"How the hell did we lose that kid?!"
"Shhh! Why the fuck are you so loud for, idiot!"
"Says you!"
"Tsk. This is your fault by the way. We masqueraded as one of their members to get that book just for us to lose it in that stupid altercation you incited!"
Ivan looked at the book beside him. It was a regular-looking book with no title engraved on the leather, so anyone could mistaken it as something insignificant. However, the moment his eyes caught sight of the book when the two men were passing by in the rural village--it pulled him in.
It was an unexplainable occurrence, as if a rope had tug his whole body and his mind consumed with a singular purpose.
To take that book.
And he did.
Of course, not without causing a bit of trouble and having to run for his life for a multitude of hours. And Ivan thought he had lost them.
He was wrong, though.
Looking at the book, there was faint traces of mana. The runic symbols that were silently floating in response to Ivan's touch.
It was a protection spell.
Despite his combative talent lacking, he did bear a curiosity for learning. And he knew that the protection spell used was a variation that allowed the book to avoid being damaged. But trying to delve into the entirety of the formula utilized made his head pound and blur.
"Do you see him?"
"The fuck you think?"
As the vague contours of men emerged from the forest, Ivan gained a sudden idea. As quietly as possible, Ivan slunk down into the water, positioning himself underneath the wooden dock. He held the book close to his body, and the protection spell was providing the book safety in order for it to not be damaged by the water.
Creak!
They stepped on the dock.